HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – Three years after her daughter’s horrific murder, a mother is preparing to face the men she said ruined her life.
Krystal Rhodd’s 20-year-old daughter Sierra was shot to death in her Cypress home during a drive by shooting in September of 2020.
The trial for the four men charged in her death starts Monday.
Rhodd now holds a book of memories close.
“This was her professional picture taken with her angel wings, because she was our angel,” she showed KPRC 2′s Sabirah Rayford.
Krystal said her daughter, who had Cerebral Palsy, was in her room the night of the shooting.
“It sounded like a war zone. Just pow, pow, Just constant,” Rhodd recalled. “Every window is breaking, dry wall was busting. Where I was sitting there was a bullet like two inches away from my head.”
The Rhodd’s family home was invaded by gunfire. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office said more than 50 rounds were fired into the Cypress home. Krystal said when the gunfire stopped she crawled to Sierra’s bedroom, which was located in the front of the house.
“I knew she was already gone,” she said.
A mother holding her little girl one last time.
“We just had to lay her in front of the front door,” Rhodd said.
HCSO eventually arrested and charged Andre Colson, Xavier Fletcher, Austin McCalla and Jason Cisneros with murder. Investigators said they were targeting her 15-year-old brother.
“They ruined my life, my daughter’s life, but they also ruined their life over something so stupid,” she said.
Krystal said her son had fallen into the wrong crowd. She said the investigation revealed before the shooting, her son was hanging out at a hotel where one of the suspects was allegedly robbed. She said a girl who knew her son and was hanging out with the other group of men later led them to the Rhodd’s home to retaliate.
“I’d never seen these people in my life,” she said. “The cops came and interviewed my son and he was able to point out someone and that just led from that one person to finding the others.”
Rhodd said the last three years have been filled with anxiety after a judge lowered Fletcher’s bond from $250,000 to $75,000.
“I don’t feel safe, I don’t usually leave my home very much,” Rhodd said.
She’s now mentally preparing to face those men in court on Monday— knowing it won’t be easy.
“It’s going to be really, really uncomfortable for me to see their families if they show up,” she said.
But Krystal said it’s bigger than her— it’s about getting justice for her little angel Sierra.
“I would love life without parole,” she said. “They took my daughter’s life, they shouldn’t have one. They should be behind concrete walls the rest of their lives,” she said.
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